Lynne gets on her bike to help church funds

A parishioner recently got on her bike and travelled the length of the country to raise funds for the recent renovation of her church.

District nurse Lynne Neville (55) is a regular at St John’s and King’s Park Church in Dalkeith, which has recently had a £400,000 renovation.

Lynne helped towards that total by cycling just under 1000 miles from Dover to Durness.

She said: “It’s very important to me. It was really my husband that wanted to do this cycle and then I thought if I do it to raise money for the church then it gives me the impetus to get it done.

“There are donations still coming in. I hope to get about £5000.

“I did it in 13 days, which worked out at about 75 miles a day.”

But it was no easy task for the cyclist, who previously had enjoyed just the occasional outing on her bike.

“I was a novice cyclist so it was hard work,” she said. “I had just done the odd leisurely cycle, once or twice a year before. I’m reasonably fit but a couple of months before this I had to start cycling properly.

“I like being outdoors, and the scenery was just spectacular. We went to the islands of Arran, Mull and Skye where the views were amazing. We were fortunate with the weather as well.”

However, she admitted to feeling a bit saddlesore after a long day on two weels.

Lynne was joined by a large group of cyclists on the trip, mostly made up of strangers.

She said: “There was a group of us, including my husband, who unfortunately couldn’t do it every day as he had a sore back, but we were the only ones from the church.

“It was a road trip, staying in B&Bs, guest houses and hotels. Generally we cycled from nine in the morning to six at night, with breaks for food.

“You knew that you had to get to a certain place by a certain time.

“For someone like me who is not a cyclist, it was pretty hard work. It felt like that film Groundhog Day – I didn’t think I would be able to do it to be honest but I managed.”